A 29-year-old man charged with two counts of robbery along with a string of other criminal charges both here and on the U.S. mainland entered a plea of not guilty in a Territorial Court hearing Thursday.
In addition to the robbery charges, the government has piled charges of third-degree assault, gun possession, illegal gun possession during a crime and reckless endangerment on William "Papa" Penn. The charges stem from a crime wave he is alleged to have committed between May and October 1999.
In Thursday's appearance at the local court, it was learned that Penn is also wanted in Texas.
Judge Ishmael Meyers told the handcuffed Penn, "Apparently you are a fugitive from the state of Texas where you are wanted for assault with a deadly weapon, an incident that occurred in April of 1998."
Meyers said an extradition back to the mainland would not prevent Penn from being tried for the crime he is charged with here.
"He violated the laws of the Virgin Islands, so he has got to face the music here as well," Meyers said.
The judge left it up to the V.I. Justice Department to decide whether to proceed with charges against Penn now or wait until he returns from the U.S. mainland after facing the criminal complaint against him there.
Until that determination is made, Penn remains jailed at the Bureau of Corrections.